


The Dining Hall

by Axelflow



Series: Spire Life [2]
Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: Comfort, Cute, F/M, Fluff, Idiots in Love, Late at Night, Slice of Life, bit of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-14
Updated: 2020-06-14
Packaged: 2021-03-03 22:47:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24713320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Axelflow/pseuds/Axelflow
Summary: We aren't getting a season 4 so I'm filling the void by writingEnjoy this series of one-shots focused on the best relationship in the series (fight me)
Relationships: Callum & Rayla (The Dragon Prince), Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Series: Spire Life [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1771837
Comments: 12
Kudos: 83





	The Dining Hall

Her hands wrapped around a steaming mug of tea, Rayla stared out the window of the dining hall. A pointless action since the Spire was currently at the center of a raging storm. Hard to see anything when there’s enough water flying around to drown a tidebound elf.

Rayla took a sip and continued to look aimlessly out the window as the echo of droplets hitting glass filled the room. She had come to the dining hall more and more over the past few weeks. The lack of people living at the spire meant that it was rarely used, and if it ever was, never this late into the night. It was a place to get away from everything, everyone, and their expectations.

Lightning flashed outside, briefly cutting through the downpour and illuminating the landscape below. Unnatural shadows leapt from their homes only to retreat back to them moments later when the sound of thunder reared its menacing head.

“It was a dark and stormy night,” popped into Rayla’s head. The non-sequitur caused a small smile to form from her lips. She had come across that sentence in a particularly florid piece of literature given to her in school. It reminded her of a simpler time. A time of youthful optimism and not caring what the next day brings. A time where the future meant exciting possibility and success was measured by how big Runaan’s approving smile was. That time had passed. Her days were now filled with worry, stress, and so, so much pain.

The crack of thunder shook both the windows and her thoughts. The tea in her hands had lost its warmth, and a bitter chill began to creep into her fingers. She turned her head to the roaring fireplace tucked neatly into the wall. Well, it had been roaring. Now all that remained was a couple of ashen logs and wisps of smoke lazily spiraling upwards toward freedom. Rayla shook her head in disapproval and gave a muted curse. How dare the fire go out at a time like this. Now she had to get up from the chair (a monumental task in itself) and find some other way to stay warm so she could continue her brooding in comfort.

“I know you’re testing me. I won’t be stopped that easy,” Rayla spoke in mock anger with her fist raised in defiance at the ceiling. She was Rayla, feared moonshadow assassin and member of the Dragonguard. Nothing could stop her, especially something as small as a fire going out. She placed her tea on the ground, braced for the shock, and lifted herself out of the chair.

Her butt didn’t even make it an inch off the cushion before the cold slammed her back down. Oh, this was going to be much harder than she anticipated. Gritting her teeth, Rayla prepared to rip off the proverbial bandage. With a monumental push and a guttural growl accompanying it, she shoved herself off the chair and into a standing position. Her arms found themselves wrapped around her tighter than a snake around its prey. Good to know her strength hadn’t left her in this frigid nightmare. If Callum could see her now, he’d say that she was being dramatic, and, to a certain extent, he would have a point. But sometimes being dramatic was the only thing Rayla could do to make a situation more bearable.

Rayla began the arduous trek to the storage closet down the hall. Primals, why did this place have to be so freaking huge? Wasn’t it enough that you could grab a fistful of clouds by reaching out a window? Whoever designed the interior of the Spire must have had the stride of an Ambler because no normal person could walk these halls in a timely manner.

It only took what seemed like an eternity of bare feet against cold stone and a string of words most would call unsavory trailing behind her, but Rayla finally managed to find the closet. She threw it open, almost literally since the rusting hinges did little to support the ancient wooden door, and proceeded to rummage around the cluttered shelves for anything resembling a blanket.

“Come on, I know you’re in here you stupid piece of cloth,” Rayla said, her patience dwindling. Her hands found themselves digging deeper and deeper into the all-encompassing mess of the closet. She was finding everything but a blanket. Board games, pans, various tools, several bottles of alcohol, and, for some reason, what appeared to be about a dozen romance novels.

“Hey Ray.”

Rayla’s instincts took over, bolting her upright, ready to fight. Unfortunately, her instincts failed to take into account that she was currently on her hands and knees with her head underneath a shelf. Her eyes filled with a constellation of multicolored stars and a rather annoying ringing emerged in her ears. The sharp burst of upward momentum was replaced with a dull recession into her previous position. Her hands now rested on top of her head instead of sifting through junk.

“Hey Callum. Why are you here?” Rayla said through gritted teeth. The pain hadn’t left yet, and she doubted the embarrassment she was feeling would leave anytime soon. With one hand still on her head, she scooted around to face her boyfriend.

“Well, it’s a long story, but it all started when my mom met my dad and-”

“Callum,” Rayla warned.

“I wanted a snack and got lost,” Callum quickly corrected. “Why are you here?”

“I was trying to find a blanket so I could go back to staring out a window,” she replied bluntly. Who would have thought head trauma would sap her sense of humor? Rayla rubbed her eyes with her free hand, dispelling the stars still hovering inside them. She looked up at the stupid, cute face of her favorite human and saw something that made her forget all about what might be a minor concussion.

“Callum, what’s that wrapped around your shoulders?” she asked innocently.

“My...bed sheet.” he responded

“I thought so. You wouldn’t mind if I took a look at it right?” faux sweetness dripping from her words.

“Rayla, if you’re about to do what I think you are please...”

Rayla hopped up and yanked a corner of the blanket from Callum’s hand. In one smooth motion she wound herself up before bumping Callum’s hip with her own, causing him to let go of the remainder of it. She twisted on her heels and bolted down the hallway.

“You do know this means war?!” Callum yelled after her.

Rayla didn’t even bother with a rebuttal. She turned the corner and whipped the door to the dining hall open before scurrying over to her chair and huddling on the cushion, making sure that not a bit of cloth was poking out from the sides. Lucky for her, the chair she selected was large enough that she could sit with her legs crossed.

She peeked around the back of the chair and caught a glimpse of Callum walking into the hall. Rayla quickly turned back around, hoping he didn’t see her. She was pretty well hidden and she didn’t think he’d notice a single armchair by a window, especially since she was erasing any sign of her presence. Everything was accounted for. Bed Sheets, hair, horns, ears, tea mug. Crap. Rayla looked down to the mug resting on the stone floor. _Well as long as he doesn’t see it I should be fine._

“Hello there. Fancy seeing you again," came a voice behind her.

She swiveled her head to the stony face of her boyfriend.“I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’ve been here the whole time,” Rayla lied but even she couldn’t keep the smile from her face.

“Okay fine, you caught me,” she finally broke after a couple seconds of awkward silence and no change in Callum’s face. “What are you gonna do now? I stole your covers fair and square.”

“Up.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. Up,” Callum motioned with his hand.

Rayla stood up from the chair, unsure what Callum was doing and taken aback by his commanding tone. Although to be fair, she was never sure what was going through that boy's head.

Callum walked behind her and Rayla prepared for the worst. And by worst, she meant a minor inconvenience at best. Callum was a lot of things but malicious was not one of them.

Rayla felt a pair of hands grab her waist and before any sound could escape her lips, they pulled her down, right into Callum’s lap. She was shocked. Callum loved to cuddle but he was never this direct about it. She felt his head press into her back and her pulse quickened. It didn’t matter how often they did this, his touch always elicited this response from her. Suddenly, the covers felt a little stuffy. This notion was not helped by him giving her a gentle squeeze around the midsection.

“Callum, what are you doing?” she inquired, even though she already knew the answer.

“Getting warm.”

“Maybe I should steal from you more often.”

“Let’s not push it,” he said with a chuckle.

Rayla laughed as well, but it was cut short by one of Callum’s lesser known skills. As his lips left her neck, fireworks went off in her brain. She loved Callum, but she absolutely adored him whenever he did stuff like that. And who would have guessed he’d be so good at it too?

“What was that for?”

“Am I not allowed to kiss my girlfriend?”

Rayla gave an amused sigh. “Only if she’s allowed to kiss you back.”

She turned her head and their lips met. She could never describe the feeling that came over her whenever they kissed. Euphoria seemed too intense. Comfort wasn’t strong enough. Passionate, yes, but that failed to encompass all that it was. It just felt...right.

Rayla pulled her head back and Callum gave a small groan of annoyance. “Oh hush, I’m still here,” she whispered before pecking his cheek. Leaning back into his body, Rayla wriggled around, hoping to find a more comfortable spot on his lap. Callum mumbled something under his breath but she was too focused to properly process it. Something about teasing and roosters. She’d ask him about it later.

After finding a better place, Rayla let herself melt into Callum’s embrace. She loved this, just being with him. It was a reprieve from the hardships of life. There was no standard she had to hold herself to, no expectations she had to fulfill. When she was in his arms she wasn’t Rayla, feared moonshadow assassin and member of the Dragonguard. She was just Rayla. Just a girl enjoying the company of her boyfriend. And as the rain subsided into a gentle shower and the lighting withdrew into the clouds, Rayla concluded that being with Callum was all that she needed for now.

**Author's Note:**

> We're all just touch starved morons.
> 
> Aaaaand we're back, baby. A lot of stuff happened between my last post and this one, from moving my brother into his new apartment to being hospitalized because my body decided to try and paralyze me. But now that things are more or less back to normal I should have more time to write.


End file.
